Means and method of duplicating



Oct. 17, 1939.

G. L. NACHMAN MEANS AND METHOD OF DUPLICATING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 30, 1957 17, 1939. e. NACHMAN MEANS AND METHOD OF DUPLICATING AH J Filed April 30, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 jzverzZ or G. L. NACHMAN MEANS AND METHOD OF DUPLICATINQ Filed April 30, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 l w on 7;? vefzz or 355 substantially ntn i 3-3- of Fig. 2, certain it is adapted to be moved'down' from the posi- 55 Patented Oct. 17, 1939 2,176,771

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,176,771 MEANS AND METHOD OF DUPLICATING Gertrude L. Nachman, Chicago, 111. Application April 30, 1937, Serial .No. 139,971 3 Claims. (01. 101-126) The present invention relates to amethod and partsbeingbroken away to showthe interior conmeans formaking duplicate records by the use of struction;

a stencil sheet. Fig. 4 isa view like 3 illustrating a changed .It is particularly applicable to the making of position of theparts; ,5 records such as are used-in insurance workwhere Fig. 5 is a "fragmentary sectional view taken 5 certain of the cards or sheets-which are made for on the line 5-- 5 of 4 with certain of the parts record purposes are relatively large and contain a broken away ,to illustrate ,the interior construccomplete record while others are smaller in size tion;

and contain only partial records. Fig. 6 .is a fragmentary view taken on the line '10 Stencil sheets have been used for manyyears 6 6,of1F ig. l; and 10 for the making of alarge number of copies of a Figs. '7, 8, and 9 are diagrammatic views illusmaster record. It is also-possible to make-partial trating the manner in whichthe steps of the imrecords from stencils cutfor a complete master proved methpd of duplicating fromastencilsheet record by using block-out sheets covering the iscarried-out.

16 copy sheet except for that portion which isto be 'l'teferring now to .the drawings, the machine transferred to thecopy sheet-or card. In many shown in liig. l-iswhat iscommonly termed a instances, however, where these recordsare-being flat bed type of stencil machine. In this figmade, the number of cards of any individual size ure, ,lfl designatesajrame which carries aninkis quite small while there maybe several difierent ing mechanism comprising an inking roller l l 20 sizes of cards for each individual record. The and-a series of rollers iorflsupplying ink to the 20 stencilsheet is, therefore, used only for making rollerll, these rollers beingla roller [2, a'roller a comparatively small number of copies and 1,3,:aroller I4,-and.an additional roller not shown then is thrown away. This-makes it possible to -for supplying ink to fthje roller .II from an ink use a cheap or inferior stencilthat wouldnot be reservoir 15. The ,roller 1 l -and' the associated ,25 capable of running a largenumber ofcopies. In rollers are part of an inkingcarriage havinga order, however, tomakethe requisite copies on handleal6 by means ,of whichlthe carriage may be cards or sheets of different-sizes'the necessity for drawn-forward over a .bed' plate H. The inking supplying block-out sheets at each change inthe carriagehas guide racks IBY-and. I9 at the opsize of card receiving the record or partial-record posite-sides ofltheframe. 1 Suitable gear wheels makes the process of duplicating the original 20 cooperate with the. racks l'8"and,l9.to actuate 30 record cut in thestencil a rather slow process the rollersofthe inkinglcarriage as will be readily thereby embodying a substantial labor-cost. understood.

It'is thepurpose of thepresent-invention to The details of;the. inking mechanism hereinprovide a method and means of duplication from before described are-well known. to theart and, 5 an original record cut on a-stencil which ,will, to therefore, will. not bedescribed further. a substantial degree, eliminate this labor .cost and The frame I0 includesa base 2| for the bed at'the same timeeffect a saving over the use of plate l'l,v said base .having suitable guide rails block-out sheets as a -matter of material cost. 22 upon which the bed plate I! is slidable length- The features and advantages of the invention -wise. Anadjusting rod-23 is secured to a bracket will appear more readily as the description pro- 24 on the bed plate I'I,,.,by a rotatable and non- 40 ceeds, reference being had to the accompanying slidable connectionconsisting of a sleeve 25 cardrawings wherein apreferred embodiment of the ried by the bracket, a reduced sectionlfi of inventionis illustrated. It is to be understood, the rod 23, and a .nut 21. securing the sleeve 25 however, that the drawings and description are 11- on the reduced section 26 .on the rod 23. The rod .145 lustrative only and are-not to be taken as limit- 23 is screw threaded in a boss23' provided on the ing the invention except in so far as it is limited .base 2|. The rod 23 ,hasa, knurled handle 28 by the claims. by means ,of whichfitmaybe rotated to adjust In'the drawingsthe bed plate l1. Fig. l is a view in side elevation,- certain .parts A stencil sheet holding frame 29 isgcarried being shown in section, ofa'machine utilized in upon apair of standards 30,,and 3l mounted on 50 carrying out the present invention; the base 2|. The stencil frame ,29 is supported by Fig. 2 is a plan section taken on the line 2---2 a shaft 32 journalled ,in the standards 30 and of Fig. 1; 3|. This stencil frame 29 comprisesfmeans for Fig, 3 is an enlargedfragmentary view taken :gripping and holding astencil sheet therein, and

tion shown in Fig. 1 over the bed plate I! in a well known manner so that the roller H may travel over a stencil sheet held by the frame 29 and apply ink to a copy sheet under the stencil sheet through the openings cut in the stencil sheet as will be readily understood. The frame with the shaft 32 is adjustable transversely of the bed i? in the base 2| by means of a cam 33 which rides between a pair of guides 34 and 35 secured on the shaft 32. The cam 33 :is fixedjonja shaft 33 which isjournalled in-a' bracket 31- mounted on the base 2!. A ratchet wheel 38 on the end of the shaft 36 cooperateswith a spring pressedi; latch 39 to hold the cam 33 inany. adjusted posi tion.

The cam 33 is adapted to be;.=actuatedg,.by a

the bed plate l1. 7 a knurled handle '42 by means of'which it may be rotated. The adjustment of the bed plate I! longitudinally on its guide rails 22, and the adjustment of the stencil carrying frame 29 transversely in the standards 36 and 3|, are for the purpose of properly; registering the stencil sheet with a copy sheet held on the bedplate 11: The stencil frame 29 is of a well known construction and, therefore, the details of this frame by which it grips the stencil sheet havenot been shown or described. 1 4

Referring now to the bed plate i1, this bed plate comprises a rectangular frame 44 having aperipheral flange 45 at the top thereof; The flange 45 is integral witha cover plate 46 which is sufficiently rigid to form a solid backing for the sheets placed thereon when the-inking roller passes over the sheets; At the opposite sides of the frame'44 and across the end adjacent to the stencil sheet frame 29,-I provide a U-shaped gripping frame 41. This frame is substantially L-shaped jin cross section throughout-most of its length so that a horizontal portion 48 thereof overlies the plate 46, and a vertical portion 49 thereof extends down past the flange 45. Y a At the opposite ends of the frame 41 the vertical portion 49 is turned'under as indicated at 50 (see Figs. 3 and 4) so as to extend under the flange 45. Between the portions 50 and the flange 45, coil springs 5| are inserted under compression so that they tend-to force the horizontal portion of the flange 48 of the member 47 down upon the plate 4t. Across the back of the frame 41, a portion 52 thereof at the bottom of the vertical flange Q 49 is turned inwardly beneaththe flange 45, and

springs 53 are inserted so that they will urgethe back end of the frame 41 down toward the plate Means are provided whereby the frame 41 may be lifted up so that a sheet 54 of absorbent material, such as blotter paper, 'may be inserted beneath the horizontal flange 48 and readily removed therefrom. This means comprises a pair of levers 55, one at each side of the frame 44, the two levers being keyed to a shaft 56 which is journalled in the frame 44. .The levers project beneath the back portion of the frame 41 and may be engaged therewith as indicated at 51 in Fig. 4 so-as tolift up the back end of the a a frame 47 against the tension of the springs 53. ;Two bell crank levers 58 are pivoted on studs 59 in the oppositesides .of the frame 44, one end 60 of each bell crank lever extendingbeneath Y the lever 55, andIthe other end 6] of "each bell crank lever 58 extendingberieath 'the flange 50 of the frame 41, as illustrated clearly in Figs. 2", 3, and 4.

It will be evident that, if the ends 5'! of the levers 55 are pressed upwardly so as to lift the back end of the frame 41, the opposite ends of the levers 55 will move downwardly against the ends 60 of the bell crank lever 58 so as to force the ends 6| of the bell crank levers up against the flanges 50 and force the side portions of the frame 41 upwardly also, thus making it possible to insert orremove the sheets 54 with no difficulty. The sheets 54, however, act as backing sheets for copy sheets or cards 62 upon which the stencilislaid and to which the ink is to be applied to makea copy of the record cut in the ..stencil sheet.

rod 46 which is secured thereto and passes through a bearing 4| adjacent'the front-end of the bed plate H, the bearing 4| being :carried by The rod 48 is provided with In order to grip the sheets or cards 62, suitable gripping means consisting of a plurality of gripping fingers 63 are carried by the ends 5! of the journalled in-the ends 5'! of the levers 55 so that the bar '65 moves up and down in response to movements -of the levers 55'. Springs 68 are seated in the levers 55-and press against the under surface of the flange 45 so as to normally urge the levers 55 downwardly at the ends which are secured to the bar and thus normally urge the fingers 63 into clamping position upon card 62 inserted beneath these fingers,

For the purpose of guiding the frame 47, the forward ends thereof are provided with vertically elongated slots 69,- and screw bolts 18 are threaded into the flange 45.

The lever 55 is lifted by a cam H fixed on a shaft 12. The shaft 12 is journalled in a bearing block- 13 which is fixed to the frame 44 by screws 14. At its outer end, the shaft 12 has fixed thereto an arm '15 and the arm 15 at its free end carries a pivot block 75 to receive an operating rod 11. The operating rod 11 extends to the front end of the frame 44 and is secured in a guide block 18 so-that' the rod 11 can slide freely in the block 18. A handle 19 is fixed on the rod '11. I

It will be noted that the cam 1| has a substantially fiat face at 80. The three positions taken'by the cam H are as follows: When both the frame 41 and the clamping fingers 63 are in their lowermost position, the cam H is in the position shown in Fig. 1. That is, the rod 1! has beenpulled out to such an extent that the cam H is completely out of the'way of the levers 55 when the ends 51 thereof are in their lowerlimiting position. Now, by pushing in on the rod 11,

the operator can move the cam 1| into the position shown in Fig. 3. In this position, the flat face 88 rests solidly against the lower surface of the left hand lever 55, and the shaft 56 has been rotated so as to turn both levers 55 in a that the levers 55 and the levers 58 also lift the frame 41 to bring the horizontal flange 48 thereof above the absorbent sheet l"whe'reby this sheetmay be readily-removed and replaced when necessary. The flat surface 80 onthe'c'amll makes iteasy for the operator to determine when the fingers 63 have been raised so that he does not raise the frame 41 except when necessary.

Now in the method of forming copies on-several different sizes of cards and sheets as here-' inbefore outlined, in the objects of the invention, this machine is particularly adapted to carryout the steps of that method because of the ease with which the cards 62 and the absorbent backing sheet 54 can be placed in the machine and removed. Referring now to Figs. 7, 8, and 9, the method of duplicating will be more fully described. When it is desired to reproduce upon record cards one or more copies of original information, a stencil of the usual type is cut in the usual manner with all of the information that it is necessary to have appear upon the most complete record card or sheet that is to be formed. Other cards or sheets which contain incomplete records are so formed as to be smaller, either in length or width or both, than the complete card. The record material to be placed upon the cards is also so arranged that the part of the record to be transferred to a smaller card shall be upon a restricted area of the stencil. For purposes of convenience, the upper left hand corner of the stencil sheet, or rather of that portion of the stencil sheet which is to be utilized in making the copies, is taken as a reference point. The material which is to be placed upon the smallest card of any series is arranged closest to this upper left hand corner in short lines running across the sheet, the lines being spaced in the usual manner. Other data to be placed upon larger sheets or cards may be extended to the right of and below the data which is to be placed upon the smallest of the cards to be made.

Arranging the data in this fashion, develops a complete arrangement of the data on the stencil sheet in such a fashion that registering the upper left hand corner of all of the cards as they are placed under the stencil will result in the proper information being supplied to the cards. Of course, it is possible to take another reference point such as the upper right hand corner and to arrange the data from this point so that the arrangement of the data offers no limitation in so far as the method to be hereinafter outlined is concerned.

In carrying out the method, a stencil sheet is cut with the entire or complete record thereon, and, where a complete copy is desired as is usual, the first step is to place a card 62 large enough to receive the complete copy upon an absorbent sheet 54 and apply the stencil thereto after which ink is applied tothe stencil in the usual manner, as for example by the roller II in the machine just described. By doing this, as many copies of the complete record can be made as are needed. The next step is merely to substitute the next smaller card than the card big enough to receive the complete copy, such for example as the card 62A shown in Fig. 8. The stencil is applied over the card 62A and the absorbent sheet 54 and inked as before. The proper data is printed upon the smaller card and the ink through the remaining portion of the stencil goes upon the absorbent sheet 54. When the requisite number of copies on this size of card has been made, the card next smaller in size is substituted. This for example may be the card 623 shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings. The stencil is again placed over thecardand the inking done-as before. In this instance, absorbent sheet 54 receives a greater amount of ink as it receives not only ink over the portion of the stencil formerly extending beyond the oard 62A, but it also-now receives ink over a part-of the surface that was covered by the card62A.

'By this method of making copies from the stencil, a single stencil sheet can be used without block-out sheets and without marring the copies to make many different sizes of record copies. As many as fifteen different sizes have been made without difficulty. Only one stencil and one absorbent sheet is necessary for any series. The saving in labor and in block-out sheets is far more than the cost of the absorbent sheet.

The absorbent sheet and the stencil sheet itself are thrown away after the completion of a series, and, since the number of record or filing copies made by this method is usually comparatively small, it is not necessary to use a very expensive stencil sheet or a very expensive absorbent sheet. The machine shown herein is an efficient and effective means for carrying out the method since the absorbent sheet is readily replaced by a simple operation which releases it completely from the bed of the machine. The strips 64 provide stops for the absorbent sheet so that, in placing it in the machine, it is quickly positioned. The horizontal flange 48 of the frame 41 provides a margin for locating the cards or sheets to receive the copy. The stencil frame and bed plate adjustments are sufficient for registering the stencil with the bed plate under all ordinary conditions.

I have referred in the description to the copy sheets as copy sheets or cards indiscriminately, and it is to be understood that the terms are used interchangeably in their broader sense to include a sheet capable of receiving an imprint from the ink transferred through the stencil. It is also to be understood that, where the absorbent sheet is referred to herein, it is not to be considered a limitation since the sheet may be in the form of a single rectangular sheet or an elongated sheet or web, successive portions of which are fed to supporting position for the card.

From the above description, it is believed that the method and means hereinbefore described will be readily understood by those skilled in this art and the advantages thereof will be readily apparent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of producing complete and partial copies of records from a single stencil sheet which comprises cutting the stencil sheet for the complete copy, placing a card to receive the complete copy upon a bed plate having a separable supporting sheet for said card capable of absorbing ink, placing the stencil sheet upon the card and sheet and applying ink through the stencil to ink the complete copy upon the card, lifting the stencil sheet and replacing the previous card with successively smaller cards while retaining the supporting sheet, placing the stencil over each card in turn and inking the entire stencil whereby successively smaller areas )of card receive ink through the stencil and successively larger areas of the supporting sheet receive ink through the stencil.

2. A method of producing, from a single stencil having a master record thereon, a plurality of records including completegand; partial copies of the master record which comprises placing the card large enough to receive a complete copy of the master -record upona sheet otf material capable of absorbingink,-applying the cut sten- Oil wsaid c r d ap l g-in t ugh v stencil whereby to reproduce the master record upon said card, successively lifting the stencil sheet and replacing the card on the absorbent sheet with a smaller card, placing the stencil over each card in turn and inking theentire stencil each time whereby each ti'm e a smaller card is inserted a larger surfaceof the absorbent sheet receives ink through thestencil.

3. Means for producingjfroma single stencil sheet having a master record thereon, a plurality of records including complete and partial copies of the master record, said means comprising a bed plate, an absorbent sheet covering at least a portion of said bed plate, manually controlled clamping means for clamping said absorbent sheet to the bed plate, and clamping means for clamping a card. upon said absorbent sheet, and a manually operable member for releasing the card clamping means and the absorbent sheet clamping means.

' GERTRUDE L. NACHMAN. 

